Mazda RX-8 Convertible rolled out at shipment ceremony
01-08-2008, 12:52 PM
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Mazda RX-8 Convertible rolled out at shipment ceremony
Mazda held a traditional sending off ceremony yesterday for its first shipment of vehicles to leave its headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan in the new year. This is done at the beginning of every year and all the big execs come out to watch new vehicles like the Mazda2 and CX-7 get loaded onto a shipping vessel and whisked away to markets abroad. Rotarynews.com, however, noticed something particularly interesting in the photos of the event that Mazda released. Decorated in balloons and streamers is a Mazda RX-8 Convertible, a version of the RX-8 that doesn't technically exist and which we've never seen before. Its duties appear to be parade-like in nature, slowly transporting two execs around a parking lot who are seen standing up on the back seat and holding onto a crossbar. It's probably just a one-off vehicle that was made for occasions like this, but at least you now know that an RX-8 Convertible does exist and that it can be done.
01-09-2008, 03:15 PM
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One-off Mazda RX-8 Convertible Shown at Corporate Event
Celebrating 2008's first shipment of Mazdas bound for international markets, this is a corporate event
staged by the firm every New Year. But accompanying yesterday's seemingly ordinary press release
were photos of an RX-8 not so ordinary: a Convertible version. Presumably re-built for the express
purpose of corporate events and public parades in the vicinity of Hiroshima, this one-off RX-8
Convertible won't ever see the light of production, but it gives enthusiasts a good idea of what
a current-generation RX-8 would like like al fresco.
Note that other than a hacked-off roof, the Convertible version loses its hard-top counterpart's
'suicide door' and gains a roll bar, which as seen in the photos appears to be more a handrail
than a rollover safety feature.
Viewed by some 500 senior employees, the RX-8 Convertible was alongside the firm's Mazda2
and CX-7, with attendees later hearing from President and CEO, Hisakazu Imaki who had this to say:-
“2008 will be an extremely important year for us. The automotive industry’s operating
environment is tougher than ever, but we will confidently go forward this year, taking steady
steps in our operations toward achieving our goals.
“To do so, we will emphasize three major issues: improving brand value, strengthening our
business efficiency, and improving quality throughout the Mazda Group. Notably, this year
Mazda will launch a number of exhilarating products here in Japan and overseas, including
the all-new Mazda6. Leveraging these exciting products to come, we want to see this year
made outstanding by a dramatic improvement in Mazda’s brand value.”
So there's no chance of an RX-8 drop-top - but with an upcoming model based on the Kabura
concept and an RX-9 due before 2012, perhaps a further convertible option is headed our way.
Celebrating 2008's first shipment of Mazdas bound for international markets, this is a corporate event
staged by the firm every New Year. But accompanying yesterday's seemingly ordinary press release
were photos of an RX-8 not so ordinary: a Convertible version. Presumably re-built for the express
purpose of corporate events and public parades in the vicinity of Hiroshima, this one-off RX-8
Convertible won't ever see the light of production, but it gives enthusiasts a good idea of what
a current-generation RX-8 would like like al fresco.
Note that other than a hacked-off roof, the Convertible version loses its hard-top counterpart's
'suicide door' and gains a roll bar, which as seen in the photos appears to be more a handrail
than a rollover safety feature.
Viewed by some 500 senior employees, the RX-8 Convertible was alongside the firm's Mazda2
and CX-7, with attendees later hearing from President and CEO, Hisakazu Imaki who had this to say:-
“2008 will be an extremely important year for us. The automotive industry’s operating
environment is tougher than ever, but we will confidently go forward this year, taking steady
steps in our operations toward achieving our goals.
“To do so, we will emphasize three major issues: improving brand value, strengthening our
business efficiency, and improving quality throughout the Mazda Group. Notably, this year
Mazda will launch a number of exhilarating products here in Japan and overseas, including
the all-new Mazda6. Leveraging these exciting products to come, we want to see this year
made outstanding by a dramatic improvement in Mazda’s brand value.”
So there's no chance of an RX-8 drop-top - but with an upcoming model based on the Kabura
concept and an RX-9 due before 2012, perhaps a further convertible option is headed our way.
01-09-2008, 05:25 PM
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With the MX-5 selling as strong as it is I can't see them doing it....unless they do a total revamp and incorporate the two....